You’ll start to see a lot more Mass Effect: Andromeda news over the next week, and with good reason: copies have started going out to reviewers all around the world. And because it’s a Mass Effect game, that means spending a good chunk of time in the character creator.
The first obvious one: gender. Over the last couple of years I’ve tended towards making female geared characters, because I’ve wanted to hear some different voice-overs and enjoy some interactions I wouldn’t ordinarily have. But there’s a practical matter too: the physical models of female video game characters have sometimes (but not always) been smaller than their male counterparts, which can be an advantage in multiplayer scenarios.
As for the character of my new video game creation, I have a habit of falling into that one-note trap of going to the extremes. It’s partially the KOTOR effect: if you want certain bonuses, you have to double down on a certain stereotype. Sith or Light side. Renegade or Paragon. There’s no reward for being a centrist – but being a centrist often results in blander dialogue as well, since you end up invariably keeping everyone happy.
With Andromeda this time around, I think I’m going to deliberately go out of my comfort zone. I’ve traditionally always played as a sniper, with a second sniper, biotic and Krogan in tow, someone who deftly handles situations from long range with grace. It’s time to drop the grace part of the equation.
What kind of characters do you play in video games?
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40 responses to “The Big Question: What Kind Of Character Do You Play?”
I play mostly berserker classes – running in high on health pots aiming to exert more damage than i take.
Then i get bored of dying and play Stealth Archer.
I’ll be playing a paragon sniper (or whatever equivalent this game allows) at least for the first run through. Probably male so I can better appreciate any romance options that come up.
Any subsequent playthroughs, everything’s up for change.
Renegade vanguard, the correct way.
Usually do multiple play throughs, usually good first and then bad, but definitely lean towards more of the saviour role than the villain.
Edit: also tend to focus on male characters unless there is a relationship I want to pursue that requires a specific gender.
Using the standard RPG skillset model of Combat/Skills/Magic, I tend to default to Combat/Skill or straight skill. Many RPG lock you out of interesting interactions if you don’t invest in a speech skill of some kind, so I often max that out. I also tend to just avoid magic because so many games fail to balance it well – either it’s too easy or too hard for the whole game, or it follows the ‘classic’ wizard progression of being a soggy weetbix at the start of the game and a god by the end of it.
At the moment, I’m making another run through the ME trilogy and, to try something different, I’ve gone sentinal (skill/space magic). It fits with my general tactics of battlefield control, but has removed my option for sniping. My first character was an infiltrator though.
lone magic good chaotic
Gender in the Mass Effect trilogy was odd for me, I normally tend to play female characters (especially tanks like Leona). Though as someone that enjoys charavter interaction in games more so than story development, I always end up just making my character look as close as I can to myself.
Archetype is simple, always a short range brawler. ME weapons aren’t nearly as satisfying as say Destiny, but shotguns tend to be what I gravitate to.
Using the Claymore was so much fun in ME3 as an Infiltrator. You could one-shot pretty much all the lesser enemies.
Pffffft whats this invis crap, brother I just rush things and pray for the insta kill. Charge is love…
Well I know what you play in Destiny, Titan, Striker with shoulder charge and rosary beads for
+1 prayer
😉
Its ya boi Vaegrand. Most of the time Striker, some of the time defender, but always with two shotguns. 😀
Universal remote and Party crasher +1?
Hide your kids, hide your wife cause he’s shotgunning everybody!
I stopped playing around the time snipers went back to being ridiculous (before the last expansion). So many fun times in pvp.
Yeah I get that, I just have so much tea to offer people… they always accept 🙂
@pixel_ghost I will probably check out 2, but I think I am done for now. That being said balance patches better roll out faster in the sequel, no more of this four months of only Thorn/TLS/Felwinter bs we experienced in the first one.
I’ll continue my tradition as playing as a female and seeking out all the lesbian and bi-curious females in the game 🙂
It started because Jennifer Hale is THE voice of Shepard (Sorry Mark Meers) and because I had the hots for a certain Dr T’Soni (not least because Ali Hillis does an amazing job on her voice).
Character classes I tend to vary on different playthroughs. I think I started out as Vanguard in my first trilogy playthrough, but I’ve also gone Infiltrator, Adept and Soldier. Engineer and Sentinel were a bit meh for me.
I never found the Asari all that sexy/hot to honest, now Tali and Ashley and the Female Turion from the DLC in 3 on the other hand…. and yes I agree with you that Jennifer Hale is Shepard (Femshep for life!)
Jennifer Hale is the voice of Shepard according to you. I always found her delivery over the top and Mark Meers more grounded.
He certainly had a flatter delivery 🙂
Depends on who’s side I am.
If I’m on the “bad guys” side, I’m a nice guy.
If I’m on the “good guys” side, I’m an ass.
Asexual paragon sniper for life. Gon shoot all the things and not have sex with anyone
I like scholarly archetypes. Enlightened self interest for the most part, but otherwise knowledge at any cost. Also whatever gives me most dialogue options.
In fantasy settings, mages. In scifi, usually hacking.
I will never play a white male human being in a video game if I have any other choice.
It’s just the most boring, overdone perspective.
Not sure what I’m gonna do for Andromeda. I much prefer The lady voice actor’s work but I do want to romance that Turian lady whom I think is only into dudes.
Possibly an Indian looking guy, might work ok with the male voice.
As for personality, I usually play a good guy mediator with a side of snark. I’d love to play a bad guy more but mostly you just have the option to be an pointless arsehole.
So… Nathan Fillion?
I’m going to play a male Ryder with close combat shotgun melee soldier combo
My one rule on character creation: If it has a slider, make sure it’s to one extreme. I like my character to look like a failed ceramics project.
I mostly roll male characters. The female love interests always hook me.
Love the idea of sniper classes, but in practice I suck at fast paced aiming.
(I would love a fallout-style VATS in every fps game)
So I will end up going melee or vanguard. Don’t go for shotguns, the mattock rifle was perfect for me in ME 2 & 3. It had punch, was accurate. Made every shot count.
I like both sniping and close-quarters melee. Pick them off from a distance, chip away at stronger enemies from behind cover and then when I get bored of that I biotic charge in to finish everyone off. Renegade 4 lyf.
Loud and proud is my play style, big booms and lots of action!
I will use what ever guns make the biggest mess because chaos is exciting
Usually male ranged. Have never, ever played a game where I have taken a magic/mage path. It just doesn’t interest me as much as the other options.
for andromeda, didnt they say the whole good bad thing is now more blended and each choice you make ends up being some varying degree of both?
no matter the game, i always play the main character as myself. gender however depends on the game and how its armour looks and the how the animations look. IN fallout its always female but in Skyrim its male because they look better in Armour available
Combat wise, i prefer physical over magical so ill use a bow at range and sword/axe upclose and use magic only as buffs if i really need it. not a fan of using summons
So like in Witcher 3 ill run a Alchemy build focusing on bombs,oils and potions followed by getting enought points in combat for Whirl and then a few points in signs for the armour debuff on igni and so i can use axii in converstations
In dragons Dogma, its a Dagger wielding Magic Archer, anything that doesnt from ranged gets burnt to a crisp with immolate
in Skyrim, Its Twohanded Sword bound to 2key, bow bound to 1key and hands are equipped with Healing spells that can be swapped out for thunderbolt to deal with flying dragons
In Fallout its shotgun for melee/close range Assault rifle/Laser rifle for medium range and a Sniping weapon for long range engagement
Usually play a chaotic good or neural character that focuses on magic that buffs combat abilities. Roles such as shamans, monks, close combat specialists. Probably play a melee biotic hybrid. Root anything that walks.
Female/Biotic Sniper.
I start out trying to be the supermean uncaring badass badguy, but then always end up being a big softy wuss helping everyone out.
I play the guy trying to get to the credits.
Normally engineer or other tech character. But for Andromeda, I may go full Jedi with only biotics and melee (I really hope there is some kind of laser sword)
Paragonest of Paragons, Sniperest of Snipers and a slightly goth woman for the original trilogy. I’m definitely sticking with the sniper and woman parts of the equation, paragon/renegade is mostly gone so I’m not sure what I’ll do there, probably sticking to professional with strangers casual with friends, occasionally hostile with enemies?
Male sniper or rogue. I lean more towards the paragon side of the scale because I like to try to solve things with charm and diplomacy, but I have a rule that if an NPC is an asshole, they’re getting hard sassed.
I always play support roles, so anything that can heal or delay the enemy so my allies can take them down.
If I can’t do one of those roles then I’m just a mage.
In ME games I played Vanguard because it was just solely about the space magic and so closest to a mage.